TL;DR

Cupid's castle

The crowd

The experience

Best for

Our Review

Tell me: What’s this place all about?The Gala Dalí Castle is all about two people—eccentric Surrealist Salvador Dalí and his Russian wife, Gala. In 1969, Dalí bought the (then ramshackle) castle in Púbol, a 25-minute drive northwest of Begur, and set about transforming its crumbling 12th-century shell into a home-cum-shrine-cum-ego-trip for Gala. Like his art, their relationship was theatre. Gala had affairs her whole life, while Dalí’s ambiguous sexuality shifted from self-confessions of being a virgin (impotent, even) to reports of weekly threesomes. The castle is no less dramatic: Dalí could only visit with Gala’s handwritten permission. Inside, he built her a throne and painted her as a goddess. Can you even imagine the intensity of one of their rows?

Wow. What’s it like being there?Voyeuristic

Who comes here?Along with the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres and the Dalí House at Port Lligat (Cadaqués), this is the third stop in the Dalí, er, threesome. Many visitors take in the whole trio (note: Púbol Castle closes from January until mid-March).

Did it meet expectations?At its most sincere, Púbol Castle is a private declaration of their unique take on love: there are plush velvets, lavish tapestries, a piano, and one exquisite painted ceiling consisting of birds, the moon and fantastically beautiful architecture. Gala is even buried in the basement’s mausoleum, dressed in red Dior. But it’s equally weird, too. Take the garden—which has sculptures of elephants with legs like mosquitos.

Got it. So, then, what, or who, do you think it’s best for?There are very few of Dalí’s artworks here (certainly none of the big names), and it lacks the OTT spectacle of Figueres’ museum. But if you’re intrigued by Dalí himself, as a character, a man, a husband, a glimpse inside this off-radar world is gripping.